Monday, October 17, 2011

Drawing to a close...

This morning's weather was bordering on dismal.

Don't get me wrong, between now and Christmas morning, there will be truly dismal, dreary, cold, blustery, drizzly, sleet-ish, yucky days completely without redeeming qualities that, by comparison, will make this morning look pretty good.

There was a stiff wind straight off the lake making the Canadian flag at the Forest and Stream Clubstand at a crisp right angle to the staff, bold and defiant, as if signaling to Canadians to buck up, get out the long-johns and down jackets, and march proudly and resolutely into the coming winter wonderland.

All of which means that scooter commuting will soon draw to a seasonal close for me and my trusty Vespa LX150.

Shows you what stuff I'm made of.

Down in equally cold and possibly even more snowy Pennsylvania, Steve Williams is rubbing his hands together with confident determination, looking forward to the start of his preferred Vespa riding season: winter.

Definitely a new windscreen in an attempt to arrive, finally, at windshield nirvana; a good detailed wash and wax; putting all my gear through the wash cycle; sewing a Modern Vespa 2010 patch on my BMW Airflow2 summer riding jacket; repairing the uncooperative Velcro closures on my Corazzo 5.0 jacket, maybe adding some snaps to the cuffs for even more secure closure at the wrists; cruising the used online Vespa GTS and MP3 ads for my next bike; checking out the market value of my Vespa LX150; daydreaming about a June-ish or July-ish scooter ride to Ogunquit, Maine; spending more time hanging out on the Modern Vespa forum and increasing my posting rate, and maybe, just maybe, if I'm really resourceful, earning another karma rondell; planning a late spring trip to Vancouver and meeting up with Bobskoot, and, if I'm really on the ball, renting a decent scoot for a ride; finding out more about The Senneville Time Warp and the missing Battle of the Lake of Two Mountains monument; hours sitting at the kitchen table, scissors, scalpel, glue and tweezers at hand, striving to complete my way-too-detailed paper vintage Vespa replica.

6 comments:

David it sounds like you have it all planned out for the un-scooter season. You will have to post a picture of the paper vespa model you are working on. I too have to figure out an alternate mode of transpo to work. I have been told that you can pretty much scoot to work here through winter, keeping my fingers crossed.

If I had a choice, I would go for the GTS or GTV. There are some new GTV's for sale here in Vancouver. Sorry that you have more severe winters in the East. our season is much longer, and sometimes winter bypasses us.

Makes me a little sad that it sounds like you have to wrap up the season. I have been tempted to move to Montreal a few, so many more interesting job opportunities out there, the architecture, the European flair, the jazz festival, the arts, the fall foliage... but I am not sure I could stand the Winter. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the Montreal weather and how you cope with it.

Steve, your gentle taunt may have planted the seed of a pernicious thought in my mind. Commuting in the winter will remain far from a possibility for sure. But a little joy ride in December or February? Only time (and this blog) will tell.

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About Life on two wheels

Welcome

I am David Masse, and this is Life on two wheels.

Life on two wheels began as a way to explore my decision to commute to my job in downtown Montreal from my home in the suburbs on a Vespa motor scooter, and the byline for my journal was the Scoot Commute. Today I live in Toronto, I've expanded the scope of topics I cover here, and I've added a YouTube channel as well.

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